VIDEO: New York state Senate holds roundtable discussion on public library funding (update)

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York Library Association kicked off two days of lobbying Monday at a roundtable with state senators about the deep cuts public libraries have endured in recent state budgets.

"Library usage continues to increase, circulation numbers ... have increased 12 percent since 2007," association president Matt Bollerman of the Hauppage Public Library in Suffolk County told legislators. "As you're aware, state funding has decreased by 23 percent. Demands on library services continue to broaden as the unemployed or underemployed utilize the resources of libraries."

Bollerman said 98 percent of libraries reported having helped patrons look for jobs in 2011.

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"Where counties or other local governments fund libraries, they're cutting back their funding, their support," said association Director Michael Borges. He said local governments want to cut spending because of the tax cap passed in 2011 at the prodding of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The response of libraries has been to reduce services and hours of operations, or look to local taxpayers to cover the gap.

"It's really just a shell game in some ways," Borges said.

"The simple reality is not unlike what we do in education ... the need for libraries knows no bounds," said state Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie. He said the value provided by libraries is undisputed, even as facilities roll out new services.

"For us to somehow or other assume that libraries are to be equated simply with books, you've missed the boat," Saland said. "Libraries are as contemporary as anything technology has to offer."

State Sen. William Larkin, R-Cornwall, said the state Education Department and public libraries should look to corporation or foundation grants, such as those offered by billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

"I think we ought to ask the state to go back to Gates and the guy in Nebraska that doesn't think he's paying enough taxes -- we'll take his money and we'll give him a tax deduction," Larkin said. "But I really do believe it, because every one of my libraries, especially the ones out in the boonyville, they say if we don't get some help, there's no place left to go but close the doors. And that would be the worst thing that could ever happen to us."

Library officials said the New York Public Library has already received Gates Foundation money to expand web-based services and it is now "tapped out."

After the meeting with state Senators, library leaders from across the state heard a presentation from communications consultant Libby Post about how libraries can use political campaigns as a model to connect with various constituencies. They also heard from the law firm Whiteman Osterman and Hanna, which were scheduled to present information on legal issues facing libraries, including Cuomo's tax cap, forming and managing library districts, and bond issues.

Library Advocacy Day is scheduled to continue today, with meetings with legislators and a rally led by Library Association officials with guest speakers from the Senate and Assembly.